United Empire Loyalists of the County of Dundas, Ontario

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Casselman, Alexander Clark

United Wmpire Loyalists of
the County of Dundas, Ontario

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5069

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C37

Presented to the
LIBRARY of the

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO

by

Prof. J.M.S. Careless

-777TH

UNITED EMPIRE LOYALISTS

THE COUNTY OF DUNDAS, ONTARIO.

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BY

ALEXANDER CLARK CASSELMAN,
TORONTO.

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fi-t/

READ BEFORE

THE UNITED EMPIRE LOYALISTS' ASSOCIATION
OF ONTARIO, AT TORONTO.

The German U.E. Loyalists of the County of Dundas,
Ontario.— Part I.

MY ALF.XAXDER CLARK CASSELMAN, TORONTO.

On both banks of the Rhine where it is joined by the Neckar,
is a large district about 3,500 square miles in extent, that from
the Middle Acres to the beginning of this century was known as
the Palatinate, and whose people were called Palatines. Its
capital was Heidelburg, and within its borders were the cities of
Mayence, Spires, Mannheim and Worms, all names famous in
history.

Situated as this Garden of Europe was, near to Wittenburg
and Geneva, its inhabitants soon embraced the Reformed faith.
Some became followers of Calvin, and some of Luther. The
Electors or rulers of the Palatinate for many years were Protest-
ants, but in 1690, the Elector, John William, a devoted adherent
of the Roman Church, tried to bring his people back to the old
faith.

From its position the Palatinate became both the cause and
the theatre of that long war between Louis XIV. of France and
nearly the rest of Europe. Louis wished to fulfil the desire and
drea.vi of every French ruler, — to make the Rhine the eastern
boundary of France. Turenne, Louis' general, laid waste the
Palatinate to the west bank of the Rhine. Two Electors, unable
to bear such oppression, died of broken hearts. Louis claimed
the Palatinate for his brother Philjp. The League of Augsburg
was formed against him, the soul of the combination being William,
Prince of Orange. In this war Louis' generals again overran the
Palatinate to chastise its people for receiving kindly the French
Protestants who left France after the revocation of the Edict of
Nantes. General Montclas, accordingly, gave the people three
days to leave their homes. The villages and towns were burned,
the castles and churches destroyed, the ashes of the Emperors in the
tombs at Spires'were scattered to the winds. Many of the people
perished of hunger, but as Macaulay says, " Enough survived to
fill the towns of Europe with beggars who had once been pros-
perous shopkeepers and farmers." The ruins, softened by time,
still remain as reminders of Louis' wrath, and as a warning to
France that a United Germany shall never permit the like to
occur again.

This blow, although hard for the Palatines to bear, was really
the means of their deliverance. For while Louis was thus
seeking a personal vengeance, William had become firmly seated
on the throne of England ; and thus he brought in opposition to
France the power that was to emancipate Europe, destroy the

o

fleets of France and drive her armies from every continent.
Once more, during the War of the Spanish Succession, the
Palatinate was despoiled. But, in this instance, the greatest
general the world ever saw, taught, not only the French, but the
people of Europe, that France was not invincible. To Marl-
borough belongs the credit of making Britain feared by the
sovereigns of the continent, and showing the oppressed that there
they might find an asylum. During the time when he was all-
powerful in England, was passed the Naturalization Act under
which refugees from France and other countries found a home in
England or its colonies.

In the spring of 1708, fifty-two Palatines, led by their
Lutheran minister, Joshua Kockerthal, landed in England, and
petitioned to be sent to America. The Board of Trade recom-
mended " that they be settled on the Hudson River, in the Prov-
ince of New York, where they may be useful, particularly in
the production of naval stores, and as a frontier against the
French and Indians." It was further recommended " that they
be given agricultural tools and be sent out with Lord Lovelace,
the recently appointed Governor of New York." They arrived
there in due time and were located at Quassaick Creek, just
where the City of Newburg now stands, a name which is pro-
bably a perpetuation of the name of the then reigning house of
Newburg of the Palatinate.

About May, 1709, large numbers of people came down the
Rhine to Rotterdam on their way to London. They came in such
numbers and so penniless that the people of Rotterdam were put
to straits to supply them with the necessaries of life.

The British ministry consented to receive 5,000 of them, arid
to provide means for their transportation. Others followed
rapidly, and by June the number in London reached 7,000.
There was apparently no cessation to the stream of people. The
English became alarmed. Queen Anne and the Government
tried to stop them. Men were sent to Holland and up the Rhine
to turn them back. The Elector Palatine, John William, tried to
keep his subjects. All these efforts were in a measure unavail-
ing, and not until October, when the number in England had
reached about 15,000 did this strange emigration cease.

Why so large a number of people, devotedly attached by
nature to their homes, should leave their country to seek new
domiciles — they scarcely knew where — is a question that histor-
ians have tried to answer. Few migrations parallel it in the
history of civilization. It is conceded that it was not due to
any single cause, but to a coincidence of causes. The events in
the history of Europe just touched upon, throw some light upon
the reasons for this peculiar movement. The persistent religious
persecution ; the despoiling of their country by the French ; the
remarkably severe winter just passed, all combined to weaken

3

the ties that bound the Palatine to the Fatherland ; while from
beyond seas came the encouraging messages of compatriots who
had already established happy homes in America. At this very
juncture when all seemed so hopeless in the Palatinate, devas-
tated as it was by war and winter, the land- holding proprietors
who were seeking to people America, showed extraordinary zeal
and activity ; and assisted by their agents in Germany convinced
the Palatines that better things awaited them under the British
flag across the Atlantic. Till now there had been no escape from
oppression, however severe. But Marlborough had made Eng-
land respected on the Continent ; Marlborough had made Eng-
land loved in the Palatinate ; and when in 1709 the Naturaliza-
tion Act was passed by the English Parliament, it came as an
invitation to the helpless Palatines, and they responded by a
migration unique in the history of nations.

The question that now confronted the Queen, the ministry,
and, in fact, the best men of the Kingdom was what to do with
this large addition to the population. It was a new problem !
It was fortunate for these poor people that their general de-
meanor and their devotion to the Protestant religion had enlisted
the active personal sympathy of not only "Good Queen Anne," and
the might}:' Marlborough, but also of the cultured Sunderland, of
the cautious Godolphin, and of the fearless and the broad-minded
Gilbert Burnet, Bishop of Salisbury. For their present subsist-
ence the Queen allowed them nine pence a day, and she ordered
army tents to be supplied to them from the Tower. Warehouses
not in use were given over by their owners as shelters. By the
command of the Queen collections were taken up for their bene-
fit in the churches throughout the land. After some days' deli-
berations, the Board of Trade resolved to settle some of the
Palatines within the Kingdom. Accordingly a bounty of £5 a
head was offered to parishes that would receive and settle the
foreigners. While many were accepted on these terms because
they were clever artisans, and, doubtless, became in a generation
or two absorbed in the English population, — a large number of
those thus accepted merely because of the bounty were soon vir-
tually compelled to return to Blackheath. An attempt to settle
600 in the Scilly Islands resulted in failure, costing nearly
£1,500. A contract to place 500 on Barbadoes in the West
Indies was apparently not carried out. Ireland absorbed 3,800
of them who formed prosperous settlements in Munster. The
Carolinas received 100 families. Death claimed 1,000 on Black-
heath ; about 800 were returned to their homes ; and many en-
listed in the English army. While they thus appeared as clay
in the potter's hand, there is no doubt that the unanimous desire
of these exiled people was to reach America.

And strangely enough a complete solution to the problem was
not to be given by the consensus of the intelligence and Chris-

tins/lip No.l, nun Cftarlattenbu.rg
/Vo.2 .. CO.-HWO//.
Osnabruck

Williamsbu

MAP OF THE
PROVINCE OF NEW Y

AND

PART OF CANADA^

IN 1784
Showing Palatine Settlements

0 10 to 30 4£ 50 bO
ScaAi. ^Tnilt-s

7p's from Catara<jUi
No I. Kingston.

- 2. Ernestown.

• 3 Fredencfcsbu
4 Adolphastov

ULSTER
CO

JIIRSEY

tian devotion of England. It so happened that about this time
the four Mohawk chiefs that form the subject of one of Addison's
plrasantest papers were in London under the guidance of Peter
Schuyler and Col. Nicholson ; and in their sight-seeing tour they
were taken to see the foreigners at Blackheath.

Touched by their misery but more probably eager to appear
generous, they invited the Palatines to America, and gave the
Queen a grant of land on the Schoharie for their benefit.

The idea of sending them to America was favored by Robert
Hunter who was coining out as Governor of New York. Ten
snips with 3,200 Palatines on board set sail in March, 1710;
nine of them reached New York in June and July, with a loss
of 470 lives. One ship was wrecked on Long Island. This
incident gave rise to the legend that the ship, lured on shore by
false beacons, wras robbed and burnt by pirates and all on board
killed. A light is said to be sometimes seen from the eastern
part of the Island, which, from its fancied resemblance to a
burning ship is called the Palatine light or the Palatine ship.
This furnished Whittier a theme for one of his poems : —

" Leagues north, as fly the gull and auk,
Point Judith watches with eye of hawk ;
Leagues south thy beacon flames, Montauk !

There, circling ever their narrow range,

Quaint tradition and legend strange

Live on unchallenged, and know no change.

And old men mending their nets of twine,
Talk together of dream and sign,
Talk of the lost ship Palatine,—

The ship that a hundred years before,
Freighted deep with its goodly store,
In the gales of the equinox went ashore.

The eager islanders one by one

Counted the shots of her signal gun,

And heard the crash when she drove right on !

Into the teeth of death she sped ;
(May God forgive the hands that fed
The false lights over the rocky head !)

Down swooped the wreckers, like birds of prey
Tearing the heart of the ship away,
And the dead had never a word to say.

And then, with ghastly shimmer and shine
Over the rocks and the seething brine,
They burned the wreck of the Palatine !

6

But the year went round, and when once more
Along their foam-white curves of shore
They heard the line-storm rave and roar,

Behold ! again, with shimmer and shine,
Over the rocks and the seething brine,
The flaming wreck of the Palatine.

Do the elements subtle reflections give ?
Do pictures of all ages live
On Nature's infinite negative,

Which, half in sport, in malice half,

She shows at times, with shudder or laugh,

Phantom and shadow in photograph ?

For still, on many a moonless night,

From Kingston Head and from Montauk light

The spectre kindles and burns in sight.

Now low and dim, now clear and higher
Leaps up the terrible Ghost of Fire,
Then, slowly sinking, the flames expire.

And the wise Sound skippers, though skies be fine,
Reef their sails when they see the sign
Of the blazing wreck of the Palatine !

Before the various vicissitudes of fortune that befel the new-
comers in America are recounted a quotation from an admirable
history of " The German Exodus to England " by Mr. F. R.
Diffenderfer, of Lancaster, Pa., will form a fitting close to their
history in England. " From first to last and during every stage
of its progress, this remarkable episode proved a very costly
affair to the British Government. The records are still acces-
sible, and from them we learn the total cost was £135,775.
Here we have more than half a million dollars, paid out at a
period when England was not so rich as she is now, and at a
time too when she was engaged in costty foreign wars, and when
money was worth much more than it is to-day. * * * All
Germans, and more especially we Americans of German origin,
owe a heavy debt of gratitude to Great Britain, the Government
as well as her individual citizens for what they did for those
forlorn and distressed Palatines." It is exceedingly gratifying
to find a citizen of the United States giving due credit to the
power that expended men and treasure to elevate and free the
people of all countries.

It was from this New York colony that the German U.E. Loy-
alists of the counties of Dundas and Stormont are descended.
There were some additions to the colony from Germany from
this time till 1774, but they were of an individual character.
No U. E. Loyalists from any other German source ever came to
these counties. It has been the prevalent error both of historians

nixl of the people to believe that the founders of these countie
were the descendants of the Hollanders who were the original
owners of New Netherlands (now New York). There is scarcely
;ue of Dutch origin on the roll of the King's Royal Regiment
of New York. In fact, nearly all the Hollanders of the Hudson
were rebels.

The survivors of the Atlantic voyage were domiciled at Nut-
tan Island for five months, until lands could be surveyed for
them. Before they left for their new homes eighty-four orphan
children were apprenticed to the people of New York. It was
the intention of Gov. Hunter to employ the Palatines in produc-
ing tar from the pine for the use of the British navy. There
was very little pine near the Schoharie and the Mohawk, so the
governor bought 6000 acres of land from Robert Livingstone on
the east side of the Hudson river and placed some of the refugees
there, and some on the west side on 600 acres of crown lands —
possibly because both these sites were nearer New York. Huts
were built and next spring some commenced the production of
tar, while 105, or one-sixth of the levy from the whole province,
enlisted for service against the French in Canada. The invasion
was a failure owing to the loss of the British fleet under Sir
Hovenden Walker in the Gulf of St. Lawrence ; consequently
the land troops did not march beyond Albany.

During the summer the Palatines began to murmur, and after
a time quit work. They had got the idea that they were to be
made slaves and were not to be allowed to till the soil. Their
excuses were, bad food, poor clothing, and no pay for their mili-
tary service. Moreover they found that the land was unfit for
cultivation. Governor Hunter came and pacified them ; they
agreed to fulfil the contract they had entered into. He had no
sooner gone than the discontent manifested itself more plainly
than ever. Hunter returned, sent for troops from Albany and
disarmed the few that had arms. Under fear they returned to
work and continued at it till winter. By the next spring the
Governor, who had expended his private fortune in the mistaken
idea that tar in paying quantities could be made from the north-
ern pine, found that the government in England, now under
Harley and St. John, would not countenance the projects of their
predecessors nor recoup him for his expenditure of over £20,000.
There was nothing to do but to abandon the tar project. The
Palatines were informed that they would have to shift for them-
selves, the Governor advising that they seek employment with
farmers in New York and New Jersey to support their families
until they be recalled to fulfil their contract. They were not to
be allowed to remove to any other province unless they wished
to be treated as deserters — brought back and imprisoned. Not-
withstanding these orders only a few stayed on the Livingstone
•manor. Thirty families moved south on some land they pur-

chased in fee from Henry Beekimin. There they founded the
town of Rhinebeck which bears that name to-day. A few went
to the " West Camp," the name of the settlement on the west
side of the Hudson. The greater portion had their hearts set on
the lands of the Schoharie, granted to them by Queen Anne.
They waited patiently to hear from the seven deputies they had
despatched secretly to look for lands there, to make arrangements
with the Indians and to find out the best means of getting to
what they called their " promised land." The report was favor-
able, so a small party in the winter of 1712-13 stole away and
arrived in Schoharie, where they were to experience hardships
and annoyances almost equal to those they had known in the
Fatherland. Without food or shelter they must have perished
but for the kindness of the Dutch at Albany and of the Indians
who showed them where to find edible roots. In the spring a
second party of about 100 families joined them. No sooner had
they arrived in the valley than the Governor, soured by the fail-
ure of his pet theory, for which the Palatines were in no way to
blame, ordered them not to settle upon the land. From neces-
sity they refused to obey. Then commenced the long fight with
Schuyler, Livingstone, Wilemaii and Vroman, the large land-
holders at Albany. For ten years the fight went on. Some
bought their land, others became tenants and some moved to
adjacent lands on the Mohawk.

Since 1710 the emigrants from Germany had been going to
Pennsylvania, no doubt because of the unfavorable reports from
the New York colonies. In 1722, Sir William Keith, Governor
of Pennsylvania, accompanied Governor Burnett, of New York,
to Albany to meet the Indians in a great council. While there
Governor Keith heard of the dissatisfaction of the Palatines.
He knew their value as colonists and, being compassionate as
well as politic, he invited all to settle on grants beside their
German countrymen in Pennsylvania, where they would be
accorded " freedom and justice." Fully two-thirds accepted the
offer. This was their third migration. Is it any wonder that
175,000 Germans of Pennsylvania, half the population in 1775,
remained neutral or took the rebel side ? It may be put down
as one of the mistakes of the British that they did not cultivate
by kindly acts the friendship of those German settlers, and
furnish them leaders in whom both Briton and German would
have confidence. This would have been comparatively easy, as
subsequent events have proved. Many years after the struggle
was over, hundreds of Germans in Pennsylvania, after a trial of
republican government, found homes in Upper Canada, where
they could enjoy the blessing of British institutions.

But how fared those who remained on the Schoharie and the
Mohawk ? For nearly forty years they were unmolested. Only
those who know something of the thrift and energy of their

9

descendants in Eastern Ontario along the St. Lawrence, can form
any idea of the progress made by their ancestors in the Mohawk
Valley. Situated on the rich alluvial fiats, the finest and most fer-
tile lands in the Province, they soon became rich and prosperous.
The gently sloping hills and winding river formed a picturesque
scene that must have reminded them of their old home on the
Rhine.

But the spoiler of their vine-clad cottage in the Palatinate,
finds them even in the Valley of the Hudson. England and
France were soon to engage in the final struggle for the posses-
sion of this continent. In November, 1757, Belletre with his
French and Indians swept through the valley, and burned every
barn and house on the north side of the Mohawk. The majority
of the settlers saved their lives by crossing the river and enter-
ing the fort, but 40 were killed and more than 100 carried
away as prisoners. The south side was visited next year by
another war party. In this raid fewer were killed but the des-
truction of property was as great.

It was fortunate for Britain that a man of the ability and in-
tegrity of Sir William Johnson lived on the Mohawk. He
secured and retained the good will and devotion not only of the
Indians but also of the Palatines.

After Canada was taken by the British, quietness and hap-
piness reigned on the Mohawk for twelve years. But there
were signs of the corning storm that was to devastate this beau-
tiful valley, and again drive the Palatines from their homes
when the fortune of war went against them.

United States writers with characteristic unfairness have
hinted that if he had lived, Sir William would have sided with
the rebels. Sabine hints that he committed suicide rather than
take the Loyalist side. It was wholly due to Sir William that
Northern New York produced more Loyalists than any other
similar section in the thirteen colonies. Again, it may be said
that it was owing to the apathy of his son, Sir John, in the
early days of the struggle, that the rebels gained an advantage
around Albany, that was never recovered.

The Palatines were divided in their opinions but the majority
were loyal. For years the enemies of Britain were busy sowing
the seeds of dissension among them. A few years previous to
the war, Sir William settled on his estate about 500 Scotch
emigrants, a large number of whom were Roman Catholics of
the Clan MacDonell. The enemies of Sir William went among
the Palatines and told them that it was the intention to use the
Highlanders and the Indians to drive them from their lands.
To some of the Palatines anyone not of the Reformed faith was
hateful ; and by these the stories were believed, because the
Highlanders when appearing in public, wore the full Highland
dress, including dirk, pistols, and claymore. Many meetings

10

were held, yet little impression was made by the rebel emissaries
in the settlements. The leaders of the Loyalists must be
silenced. A bold stroke was resolved upon. In December, 1775,
Philip Schuyler with 4,000 New England troops was sent to
disarm the Loyalists on the Mohawk, and to exact assurances of
neutrality from Sir John Johnson and his friends. Sir John
granted everything ; arms were given up, and he agreed not to
leave the county if his property and that of his friends were
not touched. Some Palatines and Highlanders were taken as
hostages and sent to Connecticut. Although Schuyler got all he
asked for, still the rebels must be fed in a way that would not
cost them anything. Under pretence that all arms were not
given up since the Highlanders kept their dirks, he declared the
agreement broken and gave free license to his followers to
plunder. The cattle, horses, pigs and poultry needed, belonging
to the Loyalists, were taken ; the church was looted, the vault
containing the remains of Sir William Johnson broken open and
his lead casket stolen and melted into bullets. For this Schuy-
ler received the thanks of Congress

Thus in direct violation of a solemn agreement was the des-
truction of property on the Mohawk begun by the rebels. Could
the authors of such outrages expect any mercy from Sir John
Johnson, from John Butler and his son, Walter Butler, and their
followers when they swept down on this valley again and again
during the war, when they returned to their old homes
simply to despoil the spoilers now in possession ?

Sir John, after being subjected to petty annoyances all winter,
heard from his friends in Albany that Schuyler intended to re-
lease him from his parole, and at the same time take him
prisoner. Losing no time, he hurriedly buried his papers ;
and, trusting to a negro servant to bury his plate, gathered about
200 followers and started by an unfrequented route to Montreal.
They arrived there during the last week of June, the day after
the city, recently evacuated by the rebel invaders, was entered
by Sir Guy Carleton. On the journey they had suffered severely
from hunger, as they could not in their haste prepare supplies
for nineteen days ; and so their principal food had been leeks
and the young leaves of the beech. During the last days of the
toilsome march many, from exhaustion, fell by the way ; the-
Indians of Caughnawaga were sent out to the rescue. All
were brought in safe to Montreal.

Properly to understand the hardships of the Loyalists on the-
Mohawk it should be borne in mind that they knew of no safe
means of escape. On the north, all Canada, except Quebec, was
in possession of the rebels ; the continental armies controlled the
old frequented highways leading to the British headquarters to
the south. Imprisonment or death from hunger in the forest

1 1

was the only alternative for all that would not forsake their
allegiance to their King.

As soon as Sir John arrived in Montreal, scouts were sent out
to the Mohawk to show the way to those who wished to come
to Montreal and the British posts of Chambly and Ile-aux-Noix,
on the Richelieu.

SIR JOHN JOHNSON.

On July 7th Sir John Johnson was granted the privilege of
raising a battalion from among his followers and the Loyalists
around Johnstown on the Mohawk. This battalion was called
the " King's Royal Regiment of New York," or " The Royal
Yorkers," or " Royal Greens." Recruiting went on, and in the
fall the battalion was complete. In 1780 another battalion was
formed. A very large number, in fact the majority of each of
these battalions, were Palatines. Butler's Rangers, Jessup's
Rangers and Rogers' Rangers also contained not a few Palatines.
A very moderate estimate places the number of Palatines
who served in the various corps and who settled in Dundas
and adjoining counties at about 600. This does not include
those refugees unfit for service, or those who would not
enlist, or those who came here after the peace. It is an estimate
of the able-bodied soldiers who survived the various campaigns of
six years' border warfare and garrison duty at the several posts.
How many lost their lives in the hazardous enterprises that the
corps took part in, or how many died in prison or were hanged

s

•
the .

future homes of these

r a Hi^hlau

\vhero they mi^i..

•••.:•..•- with a
woiiderfu

-.1 that the utmost harmony
The 1 Koman Tat 'holies \v,

their Freneh : :iem the v-

ians ; then the T nans.

Speak -.rrier between the

MMjh to the
Thus i the founder.

Mnmon bond bein^ the K'\ :tish institutions, \vhieh is

in their \vlu>

rvthinu uniKl

rest tuul

brin^ quickly onder cultivation, [f ihey had readilv

.;e the D .uul reliable . \\ eut otl'

from home ;iiul f:\iuily. they tndftf Sir John Johnson

ami the HutU \1 the rebels at b.-\y in lYntrtil

try in r.-Uil after raid I'I\M;

Pennsylvania yet now they showed that they
\\t\d not forgotten tli : •.;rnell to tlie im-

plements of husbandry and won in their new homes vietorir
SS 5] ;ulivl than their triumphs amid the uiins of tlie;.
homes. They were aided for t \\ o years by supplies from the
:--.nuent and in the third year were not on .uin^

Inn actually had ^rain i rt Altliou^h settled in

wilderness far from the eent res of population, they knew some-
thing of the auvanta- ier settlements. To aequire sueh
advantages as soon as possible was their aim from the beginning,
It is worthy of note that the tirst Trotestant ehureh in the
Frovinee of Canada was built by the Lutheran Palatines on the
banks of the St l.awrenee akmt three miles below the present
village of Morrisbur^. It was commenced in 1T>!> and finished

13

tin- n i be iir.t p.i l<,r \v;i . l.''-v. Samuel

iamilv w;r: imprisoned liy the rebel foi In
OH Hi'' Mohawk i thejr

'!•• p.ipei inn i, In- left • • of the story of the

r four i :ewin^ new homes

it of Mi(> "primeval forests " of NorlJi Am

. th of UK- settlement, the individual experiences, the

6 defence of !,ln-ir IK-VV home their

.-I loyal f.fl'ortH for <

t.utiona.l reform in I<S:{7, ;J! I'orm import, anf, chapters in t,lir-,
''.pmcnt M|' that happy, prosperous, prof/;/' 'id intelli-

people thai now (>njoy and pri/.c the privil'
-lit hy their Bl more than a hundred y.

In c >n, I wish to refer to some itatements made n-eently

ahoiit the IJ. Iv Loyji.lists. An artirle on " The Loyalist:; of the
AIIM-I i«-;in Revolution," app'-Mred in t.he (>//,, r/t'// < for

< )'-toli'-r, lS!»;s, ;ind received not, if:.- in an annual publication of
the lihi-.-i.ry of our I'rovinrinl I'n The editor; of this

pul.licMtion M,re the Lihrarian ;md the I'rol'e ;or ol History.

Herein the MI, i, m:ii|e. th;i,t the I'. Iv Loyalists were

''drawn from the. official, professional find eomniereial classes"
a,tid that, they were a " melancholy procession of ' weeping
(lil^rn ;i,y that position or wealth or profession or any

<»t,hc.r ;:elli:.h motive, detenu i m-f I the choice ,,f f,||(. Loyalists is
far from the truth, and w< "iet,y should not allow it to \*n

uiicliM.llenMed. It, \v;i,s principle, not place, that caused their M.d-

liereiice lo the old order of things. Loya.lists were found amom;
all (-lasses, all occupations, all denom inal, ions, and all nationalities
represented in tin- colonies.

To refute the charge that it was the classes that remained

loyM.I, your M.ttention is directed to the (ierm;ins, Scotc.h, I^n^lisli

and Irish of New York who were prosperous farmers and

ii the Mohawk and who liecMine in a, short time, a^ain

the prosperous fanners and artisans of the St. Lawrence and the

••f nuinte. Moreover I, he IJ. Iv Loyalists we, re not a " mel
ancholy procession of ' weeping pilgrims'/' hut a. determined
hand of the most stout-heafted, upright, iiK-orriiptihle people of
the provinces, conscious of the righteousness of their choice, a.nd
relying on a, I'a.ith in themselves that no adversity of fortune
could shake. Dues anyone, aet|ua,inted with the history of t.he
country, helicve thai a na.tion like ( 'a,na,da had as a, foundation
" mela,ncholy, weeping pilgrims" ''. \Ve do not hope for Ameri-
can writers to say anything very praiseworthy of the I'. K.
Loyalists, hut from Canadians, holding prominent positions,
•\vhich add eU'ectiN'eness and iv spect to their opinion, we d
peel, that they will, to say the least, he fair.

The German U.E. Loyalists of the County ot Dundas,
Ontario.— Part II.

BY ALEXANDER CLARK CASSELMAN, TORONTO.

In the first paper on the German U.E. Loyalists of the County
of Dundas, I described the exodus of their ancestors from the
Palatinate in 1710, their stay in England, their voyage to
America, their settlement in the province of New York along
the banks of the Hudson River, their secret migration to
Schoharie, their trouble with the large-acred proprietors, their
flight to Canada, and their enlistment in the King's Royal Regi-
ment of New York, under Sir John Johnson. The disbandment
of that regiment and the selection of their farms by lot at New
Johnstown — now Cornwall — and their occupying these farms
along the northern bank of the St. Lawrence have been briefly
noticed. I now turn to a narration of their experiences in their
new homes.

When the Lo}ralists went to settle upon their land grants, they
were given by the Government provisions and implements abso-
lutely necessary to clear away the forest, build their houses, and
put in their gift of seed grain. Clothing material and blankets had
to be served out to them, as very little more than the clothing on
their backs could be brought by their families from their old
homes.

In October, 1784, a muster of the settlers was held to enable
the Government to learn how much progress had been made
towards a permanent settlement, and to find out the quantity of
necessary supplies required by each settlement.

By this muster of the disbanded troops of the King's Royal
Regiment of New York, we find the following returns from the
townships settled by the German Palatines : —

Men Women Children Servants Acres Cleared.

Township No. 2 (Cornwall) 2115 87 214 i 101^

" " 3 (Osnabruck). . 50 7 14 4 30

" " 4 (Williamsburg) 93 33 76 i

" " 5 (Matilda) 75 33 64 5

433 1 60 368 ii 289^

The townships of Cornwall and Osnabruck are front or river
townships in the County of Storrnont, the other two are the
front townships of the County ot Dundas. I have included the
two former townships because the greater number of the first
settlers in them were German. Williamsburg and Matilda were
wholly German. That in the short space of three months these
early settlers had built habitations for themselves and cleared, as
we see from the returns, about two-thirds of an acre of land for

15

each man is a remarkable record of their energy, activity and
earnestness. Anyone acquainted with the heavy hardwood
timber of the virgin forest along the banks of the St. Lawrence
will say there were few idle moments for those able to work. It
must be borne in mind that an axe of a very clumsy pattern, and
often of very poor material, was the principal implement, and
that the rolling together of the timber, or logging, was done in
most cases without the aid of horses. But these settlers were
once farmers on the banks of the Mohawk, and had laid down
the axe and the reaping hook of the husbandman for the sword
and the musket of the soldier. They now returned to their
former occupations, to lay the foundation of an empire north of
the St. Lawrence as readily as they tried to preserve for the king
those more populous portions south of that river.

To depict the home life of these people is not necessary. It was
exceedingly simple — from necessity; and if they were not always
comfortable they were happy, and were cheered by the prospect
that their industry would in time bring them consolation. The
same story of conquering the forest may be told of every U. E.
Loyalist settlement in Canada. In the whole history of the
colonization of a country can anything be more sublime than the
soldier-farmers winning homes for themselves against the giants
of the forest and the rigorousness of a severe climate ? The
thought that should fill each breast with pride at this time is
that our ancestors accomplished this with a cheerfulness and
enthusiasm that should be the guiding light — the inspiration
of the people of Canada for all time.

Active as they were in the duties and labors of their new
homes they were not less interested in the affairs of the common-
weal. In 1774 the British Parliament passed the Quebec Act.
This was specially framed to suit the inhabitants of French
origin in the newly-acquired colony of Canada. When the
Loyalists settled in Canada in 1784 the authority for the
government of the new subjects was vested in this Act.
As the Act had been intended only for the French, it was partly
inoperative with respect to the Loyalists along the St. Lawrence
The law was administered by military officers and was a kind of
military rule from which all the harshness, usually implied there-
by, was excluded. The executive officer of the county of Dundas
was Captain Richard Duncan, a Scotchman, who before the war
was for five years an ensign in the 55th Regiment. His home
was at Mariatown, now a small collection of houses about a mile
west of the present village of Morrisburg. It was founded by
Capt. Duncan and named in honor of his daughter, Maria, who
was said to be the most beautiful woman in the new settlement.
From all that I can learn of Judge Duncan, as he was called, he
was a kind-hearted and generous man, who dealt out the law of

16

right and justice, although not strictly in accordance with the
existing constitution.

As the German settlers were deeply religious and generally
industrious no serious cases of dispute arose. They had trial by
jury, with sheriff and judge, and Mr. Croil in " Dundas " says that
Mr. Richard Loucks, in whose tavern the court was held, had an
account not only against the grand jury for liquor used in the
court room, but also against the judge for brandy furnished for a
supper given by him to the jurymen. Notwithstanding the con-
geniality of judge and jury, some penalties were inflicted for
misdemeanors. Minor offences were atoned for in the pillory,
which adjoined the inn of Loucks. Extreme offences were pun-
ished by banishment to the United States ! This, of course, was
considered unusually severe and ranked next to the sentence of
death.

Although the geniality and generosity of the judge were un-
bounded, it will be readily understood that the sturdy Loyalists,
familiar as they were with representative institutions in the col-
ony of New York, would soon strive for a more substantial form
of government than that dispensed by a military officer, however
efficient he might be.

Just here allow me to correct an impression that many, even
in Canada, have regarding the U. E. Loyalists. Their detractors
say, because they risked their lives and all their worldly belong-
ings for the sake of British connection and British supremacy, that
they approved all the acts of George III. in relation to America,
that their loyalty was a blind fidelity to flag and sovereign.
This is one of the calumnies under which they labored. But if
the descendants of their bitterest enemies have not wholly vindi-
cated the Loyalists' action, they have materially softened -their
imputations. Among the Loyalists were many men, men of high
ideals, of liberal culture and of the highest character who were
the bitterest opponents of the oppressive and unwise acts of
George III. Although they deplored the actions of the king they
did not consider rebellion the proper means to rectify any existing
error that the British had made with respect to them. This was
the noble distinction between the Loyalists and the rebels. The
Loyalists believed that constitutional means would furnish a
more meritorious arid more lasting method for redress of griev-
ances than a resort to arms. There is no one but will admit that
it required more courage to take up arms in defence of a govern-
ment whose acts you cannot approve than to be a rebel. In a little
more than fifty years in their new home the Loyalists had to face
similar difficulties and similar oppression, and I am proud to say
that they then resisted a resort to arms as strongly as when they
had taken up arms in a righteous cause, that by the fortunes of
war was destined to drive them from their comfortable homes to
seek new ones in the unbroken wilderness.

True to those principles of constitutional redress of grievances,

17

tin' Loyalists of the County of Dundas. pointed out the civil dilli-
culties under which they labored and greatly influenced the
legislation for the colony. In the state papers of this time we
find in a petition of Sir John Johnson and other Loyalist sub-
scribers to the king, dated April 11, 1785, several suggestions that
were afterwards embodied in the Constitutional Act of 1791.
After pointing out the hardships involved in the land tenure
under the Quebec Act, they propose : (1) A district from Point
au Baudet (Beaudette) westward, distinct from the province of
Quebec ; (2) The division of the district into counties with Cat-
ar;u|ui (now Kingston) as the metropolis. The petition closes
with these words, " Your petitioners implore your Majesty that
the blessing of British laws and British government and an ex-
emption from the French tenures may be extended to the afore-
said settlements."

The British officials were slow to move and other petitions
followed the next year. One was sent from New Johnstown
(Cornwall) dated Dec. 2, 1786 ; one from New Oswegatchie (Pres-
cott) dated Nov. 16, 1786, and one from Cataraqui (Kingston).

In the following year, on June 13, another petition was for-
warded to the British Government, praying for the same as in
the last petitions, and in addition : 1. For English tenure of
lands. 2. For assistance in establishing churches of England
and Scotland. 3. For assistance to establish a school in each
district. 4. For a prohibition of pot and pearl ashes from Ver-
mont as leading to an illicit trade with the United States, and
for a bounty on these articles and hemp. 5. For a loan of three
months' provisions. 6. For clothing to the distressed. 7. For
the speedy running of the division lines of the townships. 8.
For a post road from Montreal to Cataraqui, and for post offices at
New Johnstown, New Oswegatchie and Cataraqui. 9. For a pas-
sage from the head of the Bay of Quinte, through to Lake Huron
for the Indian trade. 10. That three places may be pitched upon
between River Baudet and Cataraqui to receive grain from the
settlers. 11. That the commissioners on claims would visit New
Johnstown, New Oswegatchie and Cataraqui, the general poverty
of the settlers preventing them from pressing their claims at
Montreal and Quebec. 12. That the use of canal locks be con-
firmed to them and that in respect to lands they be put on an
equal footing with the 84th Regiment.

It should be understood that nearly all the population of
what is now Ontario was east of what is now Belleville, except
a small settlement at Niagara. If the proper significance is at-
tached to these petitions, there is thrown on the thoughts and
character of the people, a side light that beautifully illumines
this page of our history. They show that the people had in
them the instincts of popular government and were not the serfs
of any government or king. They prove that the grand prin-
ciple they had fought for was right. Patience and pressure by

18

constitutional methods will bring about better results than a
resort to arms. The answer to these petitions was the Constitu-
tional Act of 1791. This Act gave to Upper Canada a more
liberal and popular form of government than possessed by Eng-
land at the time, and fully as liberal as that in any of the
boasted democracies of the United States. There were some
clauses in this Act that caused a great dealof trouble in after
years, notably the provision for the clergy, and the creation of
an irresponsible upper chamber. We see from these petitions
that the word Protestant in the Act meant Church of Scotland,
as well as Church of England. With all the defects in the Act,
as we see it now, considering the state of the country, and the
absence of precedents, it would not be easy to suggest much im-
provement. The qualification for voters was extremely liberal.
They must be British subjects of the full age of 21 years, and
possessed of lands of the yearly value of forty shillings sterling
or upwards within the county. In towns the yearly value for
qualification was five pounds.

Under the Constitutional Act the inhabitants of the County
of Dundas were happy. Their industry was amply rewarded by
good crops from lands that are as suited to mixed farming as any
on the continent. Mills for grinding grain and sawing lumber
by power from water and wind were built &\ convenient places
on the river bank. Although there were no factories for
making cloth from wool, flax ,and hemp until many years after
the beginning of the century, this deficiency was supplied by
the handiwork of the women, who, with the rudest hand tools,
carded, spun, and wove the various materials into substantial
cloth for clothing and household uses. More than one member
attended the sessions of the Legislature at Newark and York in
a suit of clothes wholly manufactured in his own home.

The rural simplicity and quietness of the county was some-
what disturbed during the War of 1812-15. Many of the inhabi-
tants enlisted in the active colonial corps and took part in the
famous actions of that war. The principal duty however of the
militia of the County of Dundas was to guard the convoys of
boats or wagons passing up the river to supply the forts at
Prescott, Kingston, Niagara and York. This was no sinecure as
all stores and ammunition had to pass in sight of the United
States troops ready to seize them, had they not been securely
guarded. Although many were the attempts only on one oc-
casion was the guard surprised and overpowered and the sup-
plies taken. Some of these encounters were desperate, and for
the numbers engaged might be dignified by the name of battle.

Mr. Hough, the historian of St. Lawrence County in New
York State, says — " The early settlers on the south bank of the
river were indebted in an especial manner to their Canadian
neighbors for many kindnesses which relieved them from those
extremities that settlers of other parts less favorably situated

19

endured. When the war broke out, each became suspicious of
ither. The visits ceased for about a year, and by some
uu-ans were renewed, but always at night and in secret. There
was one Canadian who thought this visiting wrong, and when
called upon to sustain the interest to his king, felt the old-time
spirit return. Although a very kind-hearted man and strongly
attached by ties of friendship to his American neighbors, he
.sternly refused all renewals of acquaintance, from a sense of
duty, and discountenanced it among his neighbors. One evening
an inhabitant of the south shore resolved to attempt to conquer
this spirit by kindness and boldly visited his house as had been
his custom. Finding him absent at a neighbor's, the American
followed him, and warmly saluted him with a cordial grasp of
the hand, and friendly chiding, for so long and so obstinately
withstanding the claims of friendship. This appeal to the heart
outweighed the decision of the head, and the salutation was,
after a moment's hesitation, returned with a cordiality that
showed him sensible of the truth, that man is by nature a social
being, and intended to live by the side of his neighbors. Peace
was thus declared along this frontier long before the fact was
established by diplomatists."

During the three years war the most momentous event in
which the Dundas militia bore a part was the battle of Crysler's
Farm. In October, 1813, an invading army of the enemy about
10,000 strong assembled at Sackett's Harbor with the intention
of taking Kingston and other posts on the river and proceeding
to Montreal to co-operate with another army moving against that
city by the Lake Champlain route. The season was well ad-
vanced before this large army under the command of General
James Wilkinson, was prepared to move. Kingston was well
guarded, so it was decided to pass it and invest Montreal. They
passed down the river in about) 800 boats and were not seriously
interfered with till the County of Dundas was reached, Here
the old soldiers of Sir John Johnson and their sons lined the
banks of the river and with their muskets seriously annoyed the
invaders in their closely-packed boats. So vexing and worrying
had this become that the flotilla had to halt, and a detachment
was landed and sent down the north bank to clear the way to
insure the safe passage of the boats. This so checked the advance
of the enemy that Col. Morrison, with a corps of observation of
750 men from Kingston had time to overtake them at Lot No.
12 in the township of Williamsburg. Here on Nov. llth, 1813,
the British and Canadians, assisted by the Dundas Militia, all
under the command of Morrison, aided by Col. Harvey, in all
about 1,200 men, attacked the rear guard of Wilkinson's army
of about 5,000 men, under General Boyd, well-equipped with
cavalry and cannon, and utterly defeated it. The loss of the
Americans, according to their despatch, was 102 killed and 237
wounded. The loss of the British and Canadians was 24 killed

20

and 221 wounded.* This was the best-fought battle of the whole
war. The Americans retreated to their own shores and Montreal
was saved. The value of this victory was much enhanced by
the fact that it was badly needed to revive the spirits of the
Canadian people. The whole of the western peninsula had been
lost by Procter's defeat at Moraviantown ; Niagara and Fort Erie
were in the hands of the enemy ; and the small army of General
Vincent was preparing to withstand a siege at Burlington
Heights. York had been twice taken during the year, and a
large amount of property destroyed. Thus the fortunes of the
British were at the lowest point during the war. The victory
of Crysler's Farm restored confidence, and was the beginning of
the end. The British government recognized its importance by
granting a medal for this victory. The value of this will be
understood when it is recalled that medals were granted for
only two other engagements during the war, for Detroit and for
Chateauguay. The government of the United States was equally
cognizant of this victory, for General Wilkinson, their commander,
w;is court-martialed, and General Boyd's services were not re-
tained on the reduction of their army at the close of the war.

The inhabitants of the County of Dundas, every one a
soldier, deserve a large share of credit for the victory. Thev
were the first settlers along the river to offer any resistance
to the flotilla. They detained the invaders by an organized
system that kept the enemy in constant terror. They employed
the same tactics by which they spread consternation among the
rebels during the revolutionary war. Always invisible, but ever
present, they forced the invaders to fight and then defeated
them. The highest tribute to the people of Dundas is paid them
by Gen. Wilkinson, who says in his despatch : — " The enemy
deserve credit for their zeal and intelligence, which the active
universal hostility of the male inhabitants of the country enable
them to employ to the greatest advantage. Thus while menaced
by a respectable force in rear, the coast was lined by musketry
in front, at every critical pass of the river, which obliged me to
march a detachment and thus impeded my progress."

The British commander also testifies to the zeal which all
classes had shown in their endeavors to oppose the threatened
invasion. For Sir George Prevost says for the information of His
Majesty's Government that " The very great exertions made for
the preservation of the Canadas by its population in conjunction

*The British put the American loss at 600 to 700 killed and wounded, and
180 prisoners. (Col. Harvey's letter of i2th Nov. in " Ten Years of Upper
Canada," by Lady Edgar.) This is a close approximation to the result deduced
from the councils of war held by Wilkinson. On Nov. gth, at Tuttle's Bay,
in the township of Matilda, he states he has 7,000 effective troops. On the
i2th at Barnhart's Island near Cornwall he states he has only 6,000. Thus in
three days the loss was 1,000 men, and as there was only a skirmish at
Hoople's Creek near the head of the Long Sault, 800 at least may be credited
to the engagement at Crvsler's Farm on the i ith, a number equal to two-thirds
of the whole British force.

21

with the small force under my command, may eventually
degenerate into indifference for the result of the present contest
unless the support from the Mother Country is equal to the
magnitude of the stake."

For some years the representatives of the County of Dundas in
the parliament of Canada urged the government to erect some
memorial column to mark the spot where Canadians and British
fell in defence of our country. The most active promoters of late
years in this laudable work were our respected president, Mr. H.
H. Cook, M.P. for East Simcoe, himself a Dundas boy, born
within sight of the battle-ground ; Dr. C. E. Hickey, M.P. for
Dundas, and his successor, Mr. H. H. Ross. It was the good for-
tune of Mr. Ross, while representative of the county to see their
labor of love and patriotism accomplished. On the 25th of Sep-
tember, 1895, the monument, just completed, was unveiled by
Hon. John Graham Haggart in presence of a vast crowd of
people from the surrounding country. Of the important person-
ages present on this historic occasion, not the least notable were
Mr. Samuel Crysler, aged 90, and Mr. George Weaver, aged 91,
who heard the roar of battle and saw some of its movements on
this same ground 82 years before.

After the close of the war the people returned to their peaceful
occupations once more. Then more fiercely than ever com-
menced that great constitutional struggle between the elected
and appointed branches of the Parliament that ended in the
Union of Upper and Lower Canada in 1841, and somewhat
later in the abolition of irresponsible advisers of the Lieutenant-
Govern or.

To attempt to outline even the political history of Dundas
from the close of the war till 1841 would be tedious. It may
be said, however, that for twenty years Dundas sent to Parlia-
ment representatives who continually pressed for a better form
of government, a government which if prone to do wrong would
have less power to inflict harm. Because the people of Dundas
so persistently opposed what was called The Family Compact, it
must not be understood that they were disloyal or even had the
remotest idea of taking up arms to redress grievances. In the
whole Eastern district not one was even suspected of committing
any treasonable act. Of course it should not be considered a
great virtue to be loyal. But since some rashly resorted to
arms to enforce their opinions and to sever Canada from Britain,
I merely mention the fact. The people of Dundas occupied a
strange position which was very different from that of the people
of the western portion of the province. In the west were many
settlers from the United States who were in their hearts dis-
loyal. Their object was to make Canada a part of the United
States, and the surest way to bring this about was to take sides
with the constitutional agitators for reform. The treasonable
designs of these disloyal persons cemented the old U. E. Loyalists

22

into one opposing camp whose watchword was British connec-
tion. Very different was the situation in the east. None but
Loyalists settled there — in fact none but tried Loyalists were
allowed to do so. Hence they divided, as communities will on
any subject, but it was understood that every Loyalist desired
nothing else but British connection, and without fear of being
called sympathizers with the United States, they could elect
members pledged to use their best endeavors to secure reforms.
For four parliaments Dundas sent two members showing that its
population was relatively more than some other counties of much
greater area. The men that stand out prominently during this
period of political strife ai-e Col. John Oysler, Peter Shaver and
John Cook. Peter Shaver and John Cook being the joint repre-
sentatives for three consecutive parliaments. Col. Crysler
served for 16 years, (1808-1824) ; Peter Shaver for 17 years,
(1824-1841) ; John Cook, for 15 years, (1830-1845).

When the province was invaded at Prescott by sympathizers
with the rebels, from the United States, under Von Schoultz, the
Dundas militia were soon at the scene of action. Their loss was,
four rank and file killed, one lieutenant and five rank and file
wounded. The result of this engagement is well-known to all.
Not one of the 170 invaders escaped. Nearly 100 were killed
and the remainder surrendered prisoners of war. Von Schoultz
and others of lesser note were hanged at Kingston. A few of
the youthful adherents were pardoned and sent home to the
United States, of the remainder a few were imprisoned and the
others transported to Van Dieman's Land.

Again, during the Fenian scare, did the militia of Dundas
nobly respond to the call for the defence of the country. And
at this time (February, 1900) some of its young men are members
of each of the contingents on active service in South Africa.

A mere recital of the main facts in the history of even one
family would require the space of a whole paper such as this.
But 1 shall conclude with two typical stories of romantic adven-
ture and hardship.

Henry Merkley was a young man living with his father in
the valley of the Schoharie, New York, when the revolutionary
war broke out. He was known to be a Loyalist ; and when he
was working in the harvest field, a neighbor, named Young, and
his sou came over and began talking on the political aspect of
the times. Merkley would not declare himself, and we believe,
took rather a non-partisan standpoint. This was an act of prud-
ence on his part, as his unwelcome callers were armed with
muskets. However, this discretion did not save Merkley. John
Young, the son, shot him in the side, but did not kill him ; and,
when about to finish his murderous work with the butt end of
his musket, he was prevented by his father. Soon after this
Merkley was put into Schoharie jail. After his wounds were
healed he managed to make his escape and reached Niagara.

23

lie at, oner /joined the Kind's Royal Regiment of New York, and
served in the several memorable campaigns with that famous
regiment until the close of the war. After its disbandment
he settled in Montreal, and subsequently in Williamsburg in
the County of Dundas. Here he soon became a prosperous
and popular farmer, and took an active part in the civil and
military affairs of the country. From 1804 to 1808 he was the
representative of the County in the Legislative Assembly of
Upper Canada. He was an officer of the Dnndas militia, and
was present at Crysler's Farm, and took part in the several en-
gagements on the St. Lawrence frontier during the war.

When Mr. Merkley was living on his farm in Williamsburg,
a beggar came to his door and asked for a meal. The farmer and
beggar instantly recognized each other. The last time they met
was in the harvest field in Schoharie. The beggar was none
ther than John Young, who had so nearly taken Mr. Merkley 's
life some years before, now reduced to the humiliating position
of asking alms from the man he so cruelly wronged. The utter
abjectness of his position, led him to ask forgiveness for his
despicable deed. Mr. Merkley, was not quite so willing to grant
the forgiveness, but his Christian spirit overcame his feelings :
his former enemy was fed and sent on his way.

The following sketch of one of the U. E. Loyalists of Palatine
descent has hardly a parallel among the annals of hardship,
adventure, and peril experienced by the first settlers of Canada.

Christina Merkley, was the seventeen-year-old daughter of
Michael Merkley, a thrifty farmer of Schoharie. Her mother
was dead and the affairs of the household and the care of her
five-year-old brother, were to a great extent in charge of
herself and her sister two years younger. On the day our
story begins, her father was away with his niece on a visit to
her married sister. As the shades of evening began to fall the
two girls became somewhat impatient and their sense of loneli-
ness was increased by the crying of their brother. After a few
moments of watching the father and cousin were seen riding
swiftly towards the house. The little boy's crying changed to
joyous laughter and the three ran out to greet their father.
Just as they emerged from the house a volley rang out and the
father and cousin dropped from their horses dead. Before
they could realize what had happened they were prisoners of a
band of Indians. After taking the booty they required, the In-
dians set the house and buildings on fire and quickly took their
departure with their prisoners. To hasten the children's foot-
steps and to frighten them into silence they were shown the
scalps of their father and cousin. The boy, not old enough to
know the meaning of such a threat, kept on crying, and between
sobs would call out, " I want my father, I want my father!" The
threats of the savages and the fearful pleadings of the sisters
proving ineffectual, the girls were ordered to go on ahead with

24

the squaws. They believed they would never see their brother
again. His cries ceased, and in a few minutes when his bleeding
scalp was dangled before them as a warning, their belief was
confirmed.

Who can describe the feelings of these children during the
five weeks' march to Niagara ! Their physical sufferings were
scarcely less severe than their anguish of mind. Exposed to the
weather on long marches with insufficient clothing, they were
in constant danger bat were always saved from the drunken
Indians by the Indian women.

After seven weeks of hardship and captivity in the Indian en-
campment at Niagara, their presence there came to the know-
ledge of Sir John Johnson. He compelled the Indians to give
them up in exchange for some presents. By him they were
taken to Montreal, and till the end of the war they lived with his
household. In May, 1784, just before the King's Royal Regiment
started for their future homes on the banks of the St. Lawrence,
Christina married Jacob Ross, a soldier of the first battalion of
that famous regiment. Jacob Ross drew land in township No. 2,
or Cornwall. Like other Loyalist families they were supplied
with the necessaries of life for making a home in the wilderness.
But they were without a cow and they had no money to purchase
one. As the prospects for getting money from the sale of the
produce of a farm that as yet was a forest, seemed rather distant,
it was arranged that Mrs. Ross should go to Montreal and seek
domestic employment and thereby earn sufficient money to pur-
chase this useful animal. At the end of a year the cow was
bought and, meanwhile, the husband had cleared enough land so
that some grain and vegetables could be raised. The difficulties
incident to making a new home in the wilderness being now
overcome, there is little to chronicle besides the routine of others
similarly situated.

Mrs. Ross died in 1857 at the great age of 98. She was a
member of the German Lutheran church and her last desire that
her German Bible and prayer-book be buried with her was grati-
fied.

The descendants of Mrs. Ross in the Counties of Stormont and
Dundas, are many. All the honorable professions are represent-
ed among her descendants, while some of them have been elected
to serve their fellow-citizens in the legislative halls of our country.

One grandson, Samuel Ault, represented Stormont in the par-
liament of the old province of Canada from 1861 to 1867 and for
one term in the parliament of the Dominion. In 1861 Mr. Ault's
opponent was no less a personage than John Sandfield Macdonald.
Another grandson, John Sylvester Ross, was the representative
of Dundas for two terms in the parliament of the old province
of Canada and also for two terms in the Dominion parliament.
Hugo H. Ross, of Iroquois, son of the preceding, was M.P. for
Dundas from 1891 to 1896.

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